(10 September 1913 - 8 April 1950) (his death) (2 daughters)
Daughters: Kira (1914-1998), and Tamara, born in 1920.
1912 she saw a performance of the Ballets Russes in Budapest, Hungary, and decided to shift her focus to the theatrical world of ballet. She was particularly astounded by the dancing of her future husband, Vaslav Nijinsky, as were all of his audiences. It became her life's goal to dance for the Ballets Russes and to somehow become close to Nijinsky. For months she traveled on tour with the Ballets Russes and began to take ballet lessons from Enrico Cecchetti. She persuaded the group's director, Sergei Diaghilev to let her join the corps de ballet, where she could finally be near her idol. Not realizing that he was in an intimate relationship with Diaghilev (who was seventeen years older than Nijinsky), she found it very difficult to even talk to Nijinsky alone. She eventually got close to them while on a boat headed for South America, while Diaghilev was far away. Days before their arrival to Buenos Aires, Argentina, Nijinsky proposed to Romola and they eloped shortly after they arrived.
The results of their marriage, on September 10, 1913, were eventually catastrophic for Nijinsky. Romola became pregnant right away, causing Nijinsky to miss performances due to sickening symptoms of couvade syndrome. This gave Diaghilev legal grounds to fire him, which he did via a telegram. Romola gave birth to Kyra Nijinsky in Vienna, Austria on June 18, 1914, ten days before the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria. The newlywed couple and their infant daughter were put on house arrest in Emilia Markus's home in Budapest. Having spent two years as war prisoners in Hungary they managed to get permission to leave to New York with the aid of Diaghilev. They embarked on a tour of North America, followed by a tour to South America.